New head football coach Littrell’s contract worth $3.625 million over five years

New North Texas head football coach Seth Littrell’s contract is worth $3.625 million over five years, according to a document obtained through the Texas Freedom of Information Act. His annual base salary is $725,000.

Littrell signed the contract December 9, 2015, two days after he was officially introduced as head coach by athletic director Rick Villarreal and UNT president Neal Smatresk. The North Texas athletics department announced the hire two days prior on social media and through a press release.

Villarreal signed the contract on Dec. 7, the day Littrell was introduced, while Smatresk and UNT chancellor Lee Jackson signed the document on Dec. 14.

The contract is laden with performance-based incentives. Littrell will receive a $20,000 bonus if the team wins six conference games or seven games overall, and he’ll receive an additional $20,000 if the Mean Green wins seven conference games or eight overall. If North Texas wins eight conference or nine total games, he’d receive another $20,000, plus an additional $10,000 if the team wins 10 total games.

He would receive a $35,000 bonus if North Texas makes a post-season bowl game and an additional $35,000 if the team advances to a conference championship game.

If North Texas were somehow able to advance to the College Football Playoffs, Littrell would receive a $100,000 bonus. He’d receive an additional $200,000 if North Texas advances to the CFP National Championship game, but would only receive an additional $100,000 if the team wins the national title.

Littrell will also receive a $45,000 retention bonus for every year he stays on as the North Texas head coach, in addition to a $45,000 stipend for radio and television appearances. He would be awarded $20,000 if he wins Conference Coach of the Year honors, and $50,000 for a national Coach of the Year award.

If Littrell were to be fired or resign at any point during his contract, he would receive at least some guaranteed money, depending on his time of departure. If he is fired at any point before January 31, 2018, he is guaranteed at least $1.1 million, with the amount being higher if released at an earlier date. If Littrell were to resign before January 31, 2017, he’d be guaranteed at least $1 million. The amounts for both circumstances decrease the longer he is bound to the contract.

When former head coach Dan McCarney was hired in 2010, he signed for $475,000 annually. He received a raise to $600,000 annually with an extension signed in April of 2014. The incentives between McCarney’s extension and Littrell’s contract are comparable in nature, with slight differences in compensation.

The compensation for national accomplishments was higher with McCarney’s contract, but the more achievable incentives, such as win totals and bowl appearances, are higher in Littrell’s deal.

Both Littrell’s current deal and McCarney’s former deal include a $5,000 academic success incentive. In order to receive this bonus, all football scholarship athletes must maintain at least a 2.30 GPA, the APR must exceed 930, graduate rate for scholarship athletes must equal or exceed 65 percent, and all team members must end the academic year eligible.

Littrell also will receive an annual automobile allowance of $7,800 and may be reimbursed for additional mileage incurred as a result of official UNT business outside the Denton, Dallas-Fort Worth area.